Execrable

2010, September

She was sure she had somehow committed a sin so grievous that God wouldn’t forgive her

She went to the club one night

She went with three of her friends

They had way too much fun

They met some guys

The guys were doing some strange drugs

Not tramadol or the like

Something foreign

The guys offered them a pill each

Why not?

They do drugs recreationally just for the fun of it

The guys looked safe enough

If they lose consciousness or something, they were in the club

They were safe

The club owner and many of the guys know them

They cannot be kidnapped or killed for ritual purposes

The drug practically made her walk on bubbles

She lost every restraint

She danced like a demon

The guys didn’t touch them

They sat down and watched them as they made a fool of themselves

Around 3AM she suddenly felt very tired

She called it a day

She got into the car and was about driving off when one of the guys flagged her down

He offered her another sachet of the pill

There were just four pills in it

She didn’t know why she took it

She just did!

When she got home

Her father was waiting for her

Her father was such an uptight and strict man

It was the effect of the drug that made her forget she ought to stay with her friend till morning, change her clothes and return home dressed in a church garb

She told her mother she was going for a vigil in her church

She left in the evening, before her father returned home from work

Immediately she stepped out of the car in her skimpy clothes and disheveled look

Her father screamed

“So and So” (calling her mother), come and see your daughter! Mo gbe! Mo gbe!! Mo gbe!!!”

It was too late for her to disappear

Her father had seen her from the balcony outside his room

Their house was a duplex

Her mother opened the door for her

Like flash the superhero, her father was downstairs

He looked at her from head to toe

(She was scandalously dressed! She wasn’t wearing bra and her alter neck blouse was highly provocative)

Her father wanted to speak, but words wouldn’t come

The next thing she knew

Kaboom! Kaboom!! Kaboom!!!

She fell on her knees, holding her face

Her father walked away, seething!

Her mother was in tears

Her father had never laid hands on any of the children before

He was a staunch advocate of talking to children rather than physically hurting them

Her mother knew her father must have come to his wits end

To slap his beloved first child like that

When she got to her room

She kept hearing a unique siren blasting in her ears

Her ears kept ringing, like an analogue telephone

She couldn’t even cry

She was angry

She was mad

She was 22 years old

A graduate

How dare he lay his hands on her

She has her rights

She is not a minor

He must pay!

She will deal with him

He couldn’t slap her and get away with it

“Nooooooo”

She slept later

She woke up around 2 pm

She dressed up and went to fix herself something to eat

At 5pm, her younger sister told her their father wanted to see her

She knew he wanted to talk to her about her conduct

Even after he had slapped her like some sack of potato

She went to the fridge and got his fruit juice

She threw one of the pills in it

Waited for it to dissolve properly

Took it up to his room

Her father was still angry

As soon as she dropped the tray bearing the juice and cup

Her father told her to go and kneel down in a corner

She did

He began to talk

He told her how he met her mother

How they got married

How she made a vow to have a child God will be proud of

How he had invested so much to give her the best in life

He talked and talked

Then he drank the juice

It was the moment she had been waiting for

She watched as he drowned the juice

“He needed to loosen up, he needed to be less uptight” she thought

Within five minutes, he started coughing

She thought it was a joke

He coughed and coughed until he passed out

She called for help

He was rushed to the hospital

Her prank had backfired

She told the doctor immediately they got to the hospital what happened

She gave him the sachet

She said it was a mistake

The one her father drank was meant for her

Her father didn’t know it was her drink

The information she provided saved her father’s life

When her father came to

The doctor told him what happened

He knew she deliberately poisoned him

From that moment he hated her passionately

She told the nurses not to let her come near his bed again

He accused her of trying to kill him

Everybody thought it would pass

It didn’t!

Her father was discharged a week later

He told her to pack her bags and leave his house

When her mother dared to intervene

He told her mother to pack her load and go with her

She begged

Where would she go?

Her father wouldn’t budge

He cursed and cursed and cursed her endlessly

With tears in his eyes

There was no negative word he didn’t pronounce upon her destiny

Her siblings were in school at the time

She called one of her friends

She left!

Within a month she had rented and furnished her own apartment

She intensified her job searching efforts

Her mother also made some calls

She got a job

A very good job

She was finally independent

She never stepped into a club again

She never ever did drugs again

She had learnt her lessons

She tried reaching out to her father several times

She was practically dead to him

Her mother maintained minimal contact

Her younger ones also maintained minimal contact

2015, July

She had been working for four years and ten months

She had been all over the world

She worked with a tourism and relaxation agency

She earned both salary and commission

She got mega-customers

She made mega-commission

She was very prudent with money

She saved so much

But every September, around the period the incident happened

She would fall ill and be diagnosed with one grave sickness or the other

She would spend at least three months in the hospital

The sickness would drain all her savings and plunge her into debt

By between December 28-30, she would recover

She wouldn’t fall ill again until the following September

The cycle had rendered her stagnant and unproductive

At 27 she didn’t have a relationship

She hadn’t saved enough for her Master’s Degree programme

She hadn’t written any professional examinations

She was stuck

After the first three years, she knew she was in a spiritual mess

She had gone to see prophets, pastors, herbalists and spiritualists

Most of them said the same thing

She was under a curse and she needed the blessings of her father to be free

She had tried to get in touch with her father

She had contacted relatives and friends

Pastors and elders

Her father wouldn’t hear it

 She could already feel some symptoms of illness in her body

She knew the cycle would be complete in September as usual

She needed help fast

She had saved a total of nine hundred thousand naira so far in the year

She knew the money would go the way of her past savings if she didn’t get help

She went for an official assignment in Abeokuta

She met a lady at the ministry of lands

The lady was an adherent of another religious belief

They got talking

The lady told her about the man in Jeans and T-shirt

The lady said “I was always having evil dreams and nightmares, I could barely go a day without seeing myself kidnapped, robbed, drowning, in a car crash, beheaded or burnt alive. I stumbled upon a website, I started reading the stories. I read them every night when I lay down to sleep. The nightmares started abating. I didn’t attribute the change to the stories at first but when my phone got spoilt, the nightmares came back with vengeance! I would wake up screaming in terror!

I called him.

I called the brother in Jeans and T-shirt.

He prayed for me over the phone.

I became born again and I started speaking in tongues immediately

He also told me to study the gospel of John

As I started to study the book of John, I began to see beautiful visions of heaven

Now I sleep for as long as I desire

“God indeed gives his beloved children sleep”

She collected the phone number of the brother in Jeans and T-shirt

She called him and met him at his office the next day

They talked

She told him the whole truth

He led her to Christ

He laid hands on her head and pronounced the curse broken

He told her to lift up her hands and start speaking in tongues

She tried but instead of words it was sobs that came out of her mouth

She cried and cried

He was patient with her

When she recovered, she felt very light

He rebuked the sickness, he said it was a product of the curse

He laid his hands on her head

She staggered and fell

She started vomiting all sorts of substances

After about fifteen minutes, she recovered

He pronounced her free of the curse and the blight of illness

She: Sir, I still have two requests. I want to be reconciled with my father and I want God to settle my marital destiny

He smiled!

He: Lift up your hands to the heavens and pray in the spirit

She: I don’t know what to say

He: Speak

She didn’t know how but she started speaking in tongues

He also prayed along in the spirit

They prayed for some minutes

He told her to ask for what she wanted from the Holy Spirit

She did

He blessed her

She left

The following weekend, on her father’s 57^th Birthday ceremony

She bought a beautiful gift and went home by faith

Her Father was about to cut his birthday cake when she stepped into the sitting room

Her mother, siblings and some friends were also there

As soon as her father saw her, he froze

She froze!

He left the cake and walked towards her with his arms extended

She ran into them

“I am so sorry, I am so sorry”

She cried and cried and said it over and over

Her father hugged her so tight she could barely breathe

He cried

He was sorry too

Her mother and siblings started crying

Five years of unforgiveness and hatred dissolved in that instant

It was the happiest day of her life

September came and left in a hurry

She was not sick

She met her man in October 2015

He came to their office to enquire about their tourism packages

He ended up inspecting what she packaged

He must have been impressed

He kept calling and coming back

Six months later they got engaged

Her parents approved

They got married one year after their engagement

PS: The couple is blessed with a son

They live in Port-Harcourt Nigeria

The event happened in Lagos, Nigeria

Are you under a curse?

Do you think the curse is so heavy it cannot be broken?

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law

The Gospel is empowered to break every curse

Call upon Jesus right now! Be free!!!!

***Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree